


Welcome to Derry!

by Rarlandcarjamin



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gas Station, I love what I've created oop, M/M, Will moves to Derry after the season finale, and a reddie shipper, but now ive taken my ultimate form, derry gas station, duffers take notes, eleven - Freeform, i said so, im writing the show now, its canon, joyce byers - Freeform, ryers, you know i used to be a byler shipper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-10-01 17:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20354128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rarlandcarjamin/pseuds/Rarlandcarjamin
Summary: After the Byers leave Hawkins, they move into Derry, Maine. But Jonathan and Will get lost on their way to the new house. They stop at a gas station and Will asks for directions, but he walks out with much more.





	Welcome to Derry!

**Author's Note:**

> This was based off a headcanon I wrote last YEAR and posted on my Tumblr softschnappi  
To be honest I used to be a reddie and byler shipper but ever since I discovered ryers its been my ultimate so im kind of a clown because it'll never be canon unlike potentially reddie or byler but oh well  
Hope you enjoy

“Shit," Jonathan muttered under his breath.

Will sighed in response and leaned his head against the car window. It was pitch black outside and their car was the only one on the road which was surrounded by tall, ominous, swaying trees and bushes. 

Jonathan had been driving his car with Will accompanying him in the passenger seat across the country to Maine, following behind his mother and El in a big Uhaul truck that held all of their belongings for the new house. They had been on the road for a few days, stopping at restaurants and drive-thrus along the way. All was going well and they were  _ almost  _ at the new house until a car cut in front of Jonathan on the highway and he couldn’t see what exit his mother took. All he knew was that the truck was nowhere to be seen.

After an hour of driving around it started to get dark and Will started to worry that they were really lost. They had no way of contacting Joyce other than to ask for a phone at a gas station and call the new house, but they weren’t even sure if she and El had even arrived yet. They were both equally horrible at reading maps.The one thing they were sure of was that they were definitely in Maine since they passed the ‘Welcome to Maine!’ sign a while ago. So they tried their hardest to read the state map of Maine and of some of the towns they passed, but Will knew they were lost after neither of them could figure out the map and he tried to get Jonathan to admit it but he wouldn’t. However, after driving around in the dark in the middle of nowhere for twenty more minutes, he caved.

“I told you we were lost,” Will rolled his eyes and continued to stare out of the window. It was really dark on the road. Too dark. Way too dark. 

Jonathan sighed and put his hand on Will’s shoulder. “Fine, we’re lost. We tried everything we could, but don’t worry-”

“Don’t worry?” Will scoffed and glared at his older brother. “We’re lost in a state we’ve never been to in the middle of nowhere at  _ night  _ and we have no way of contacting mom. Even El couldn’t get a clue of where we are because she lost her powers.” He turned away and looked back out the window, hiking his feet up onto the seat and pulling his knees to his chest.

“Will, calm down. I’m sure there’s like a gas station around here somewhere,” Jonathan assured him. “We can get directions there and everything will be fine.” He desperately hoped that what he was saying would be true. 

They kept driving along the road for fifteen more minutes before they saw the first building with bright lights since the sun went down hours ago. Will and Jonathan noticed the gas pumps at the same time and cheered in unison. After four hours of being lost they were finally going to be on their way home!

“Okay,” Jonathan started as he pulled up to a pump. “While I fill up the gas, you go in and ask for directions. They’ll have to have a map of where we are. I’m counting on you to remember what they say, okay?

Will nodded and opened the door, climbing out. Just as he was about to shut it he turned to Jonathan with a grin. “Let’s just hope they don’t lead us to Florida. Although, haven’t we always wanted to go to Disney?”

“The more time you waste talking the longer we’re stuck here,” Jonathan chuckled and put the gas pump into the car. “Now go.”

The store had all its lights on and Will could hear the faint music playing when he approached the door. He looked through the glass and saw a man with a yellow and black gas station looking uniform sitting at the cash, looking down and writing something. Perfect!

The man looked up at the sound of the chimes clanging when Will opened the door and stepped inside. He had short brown hair that was longer on one side, swooping down and almost covering his right eye. He was tall, lanky, and looked about Will’s age. 

“Hi,” The man whose name tag read ‘Bill’ greeted. 

Will shuffled to the counter and looked up at him. “Hi there. Um, my brother and I are kinda lost and I was wondering if you could tell us where we are? Oh, and I’m also going to pay for the gas.”

“Well, you-you’re in D-D-Derry, Maine,” Bill stuttered, looking back down at Will and tapping his fingers on the glass that held all of the lottery tickets underneath him. He watched Will silently look away and cheer in victory.

“Great!” Will smiled at him. “So, I was wondering if you know how to get to-”

“I’m sorry, I d-don’t do well w-w-with directions,” Bill apologized, looking down and scratching the back of his head. 

Well, shit. They were so fucked now. Will and Jonathan were going to have to stay the night in the car somewhere and their mom is probably worried to death about them-

Bill must have noticed how deflated Will became after he told him that he wasn’t good with directions because he immediately tried to tell Will that he knew someone else who could help him. He stumbled into the back room and Will heard some bickering between him and another person.

A few moments later, a taller, much more annoyed man appeared behind Bill. Will’s eyes widened and his mouth went dry at the sight of him: curly dark brown hair, brown eyes, big square glasses, soft-looking lips...He almost looked like Mike. Almost. Oh, how he already missed Mike.

But Will quickly forgot about his best friend as he felt his heart racing and his cheeks heat up as the very attractive man’s expression turned from agitated to...interested after he looked Will up and down.

“Scratch that, Big Bill,” The man said with a smile on his face, “No need to pay me. I would be honoured to spend my precious time helping out this lost eye candy.” 

Eye candy? Will almost choked on his own spit at that one. He couldn’t believe that this random hot stranger at the gas station just implied that...no. That couldn’t have been what he meant. No way. No guy ever just hits on another guy like that, especially a stranger in public. Not possible. But regardless, it made Will’s face heat up even more. 

The man stood beside Bill and leaned his elbows on the desk, holding out his arm for Will to shake. “Richie Tozier, at your service,” He greeted Will with a wink. 

Will gulped and tried to calm his nerves as he shook Richie’s hand. Holy fuck, his hands were so  _ soft _ and his own were so clamy from being so nervous. 

It was kind of embarrassing for Will to be this much of a mess and have been turned into complete mush ever since he laid eyes on Richie. He tried to snap out of it. It wasn’t every day he got an opportunity to speak with a hot guy and he wanted to make the most out of it.

“I’m Will Byers. And my brother and I are lost. The end of our trip is Derry so thank God we’re here, but we need to get to Palmer Lane,” He explained after taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “And we have no idea how to get there.”

Richie reached underneath the desk, much to Bill’s displeasure who kicked him for getting too close. Will now noticed that Bill wasn’t actually writing anything but instead he was drawing. A bunch of birds, specifically, and it was looking  _ really  _ good. But his gaze was torn when Richie stood up and slammed a map on the counter and reached for a highlighter. With a yellow cap between his teeth, he drew three lines on the map and turned it around for Will to see.

“I don’t know what was so difficult about telling him where Palmer Lane is, you fucking wet end,” Richie turned to Bill and said.

Bill rolled his eyes. “I thought h-he would w-want directions for o-out of town. And watch your language at wuh-work.”

Shaking his head, Richie mumbled something under his breath before turning back to Will. “So.” He started, pointing to a highlighted road on the town map. “This gas station is located on this road, which you need to take,” His finger slid down to the other road. “Until you get to Main Street. You turn onto that and then,” He pointed to a street right of Main Street. “You turn right onto Palmer Lane. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.” 

Will and Richie smiled at each other and Will thanked him. He noticed that Richie had become closer to him than he was before he pulled out the map. Will’s heart was beating fast in his chest as he looked into Richie’s chocolate brown eyes, swearing he saw stars in them, but he looked away quickly in fear of the other noticing that his cheeks were turning pink again.

“Say, I’ve never seen ye ‘round here, bucko,” Richie said to him, voice suddenly very Irish. “What’re ye doin in a shighthole like Derry?” 

Will chuckled softly at his attempt to speak in an Irish accent. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t perfectly on point, either. “I think you need to work on that accent a bit more before it’s perfect,” Will encouraged Richie with a smile. “And I just moved here. Trying to find the new house.”

Richie’s face lit up and a joyous smile spread across his face. “Well I’ll be,” He said, switching to a Southern accent. “We get a first look at the fresh meat before errybody else!”

“I’m sorry about him,” Bill apologized while shaking his head. He looked just about ready to stab Richie with the pencil in his hand.

Will waved his hand. “No it’s okay! I mean,” He looked to Richie, shyly. “You’re funny.” 

“You bet your fur I am!” Richie stuck his tongue out at Bill, who rolled his eyes.

Will blinked. “You...bet your fur?”

“Derry slang, my friend. You’ll be hearing plenty more soon enough.”

Will hummed in response before he remembered the other reason why he was in the store. “Oh! I almost forgot to pay for the gas,” Will said as he put fifteen dollars on the counter. “It’s pump-”

“Five,” Bill finished as he entered the money into the register. “Yeah, you’re the o-only one hu-here.” 

Will looked down, feeling embarrassed. “Right.” 

“So, are you going to Derry High in the fall?” Richie asked in his normal voice, pushing his glasses up on his face. 

“Yeah, going into grade eleven.” Will picked up the change and put it into his pocket. When he looked at Richie, he was still leaned over the counter but now had his elbow on the counter and his face resting on his hand. Watching as Richie quickly looked him up and down again, Will gulped as he began to rock back and forth on his feet. Richie didn’t even wait until a time when Will wasn’t looking to stare at him. Fuck.

“Cool! Me and Bill go there, and all of our friends. Same grade, too,” Richie smiled at Will, tapping his fingers on the counter. “Speaking of which, our friend Mike lives on Palmer Lane. So I’ll probably see you around before school starts!” 

Will one hundred and ten percent wanted to see Richie again before school started. There was no way he could go a whole month without seeing Richie’s handsome face. Will’s heart started to beat faster in his chest because Richie seemed like he really wanted to see him again. If he went to see his friend Mike then he could drop by the new house and hang out and- oh fuck, Will was already falling for him.

“Yeah!” Will smiled at him. “My place is the one with the moving van outside.” His eyebrows furrowed as he blinked a few times before opening his mouth again. “I just realized I don’t know what my own house even looks like yet,” He laughed. 

Richie chuckled and looked back down at the map displayed in front of them. “Well, speaking of home, you better get on your way, buttercup. It’s almost 1am, and you don’t want ol’ Bob Gray coming to eat your toes and take your money.”

Will didn’t hear anything he said past “Buttercup.” His eyes were wide and his mouth was suddenly dry. Richie just...called him...Buttercup.  _ Buttercup _ . Although he didn’t want to get ahead of himself, his brain automatically registered everything that had happened ever since he walked in the store as flirting. Richie, a super handsome guy he just met, was flirting with him.  _ Him _ . Will could feel his whole face heating up  _ again _ , getting hotter than it’s ever been before and he probably looked like a tomato.

Richie was scribbling something down on the map with a pen before he closed it up and handed it to Will. 

“Did you just call me buttercup?” He wanted to make sure he had heard him right.

Richie blinked. “Yes. Because, y’know, your hair. You look like a Reece’s cup. I didn’t mean for it to be insulting-”

“You didn’t insult me,” Will shook his head. “It’s just nobody’s ever called me that before,” He smiled up at Richie and took the map. “Do you call all your customers candy related names?” He asked, remembering how Richie had called him eye candy at the beginning.

“Nope,” Richie said, popping the p. “Just you, buttercup.” 

“Oh,” Will whispered, beaming. Then he did something he’d never done before: he put his hair behind his ear. Isn’t that something girls did when they talked to a guy? Will had no idea why he did that, but there was no time to worry over it. He’d just remembered that Jonathan was waiting for him in the car and they needed to get to the new house.

“Well I think you’re right, I better be on my way home,” Will said as he stepped away from the counter. He didn’t want to leave, but he knew he had to. “It was nice to meet both of you! Thanks for the directions, Richie.” 

Richie waved at him and even Bill looked up from his drawing to tell Will to come back again.

“See you soon, Will,” Richie smiled at him. “Twas nice chatting with you! Watch out fur the hobos!” He added in his Irish accent. 

Chuckling, Will walked over to the door. “Have a good night!” He shouted as he walked out of the store, looking at the ground and trying to hide the huge grin on his face. He hadn’t even got to the new house yet and he already made a friend. He thanked whatever Gods there were that he was able to run into such a handsome guy like Richie and have him - maybe - take some sort of interest in him. Oh, he was so handsome. Will kept thinking about Richie’s curls, the freckles on his face, and his chocolate brown eyes as he made his way to the car. 

“Got the directions?” Jonathan asked as Will climbed into the passenger seat of the car.

Will opened up the map and was drawn to the writing in the top right corner:

_ Derry Gas: 207-396-7289 _

_ Richie Tozier: 207-826-1946  _

_ :) _

“Yeah,” Will smiled as he felt his heart rate speed up once again. “I got them.”

Maybe Derry wasn’t going to be so bad after all.


End file.
